ganga literally means "to walk" (on foot, as opposed to fara, which is going by any means), but Icelanders lean on it far more for its figurative sense: "to go, to work, to function." A plan gengur vel "goes well," a machine gengur "runs," and in one of the most Icelandic constructions of all, mér gengur vel means "I'm doing well." It is a strong verb with a dramatic vowel story — geng / gekk / gengu / gengið — and it triggers u-umlaut in göngum. Learn it for the walking; keep it for the idioms.
Conjugation
Class: strong, class 7 (reduplicating type; ablaut a–e–e with a fronted present geng). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef gengið "I have walked" (perfect of motion-result also takes vera: ég er genginn "I have left / I'm gone").
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að ganga |
| 3sg present | gengur |
| 3sg past | gekk |
| Supine | gengið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | geng | gekk |
| þú | gengur | gekkst |
| hann / hún / það | gengur | gekk |
| við | göngum | gengum |
| þið | gangið | genguð |
| þeir / þær / þau | ganga | gengu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | gangi | gengi |
| þú | gangir | gengir |
| hann / hún / það | gangi | gengi |
| við | göngum | gengjum |
| þið | gangið | genguð |
| þeir / þær / þau | gangi | gengju |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | gakk! / gakktu (with attached pronoun) |
| Imperative (þið) | gangið! |
| Supine | gengið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | genginn / gengin / gengið |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | gangast (e.g. gangast undir = undergo) |
The vowels of ganga
The four parts are geng (present, fronted e), gekk (past singular), gengu (past plural stem geng-), gengið (supine). The infinitive and the "you (pl.)" present keep the stem a (ganga, gangið), the "we" form umlauts it to ö (göngum), and everything past uses geng-. The imperative gakk / gakktu preserves the a too.
Við göngum oftast í vinnuna þegar veðrið er gott.
We usually walk to work when the weather is good.
Hann gekk yfir allan Laugaveginn á fjórum dögum.
He walked the whole Laugavegur trail in four days.
Gakktu varlega, það er hált á stéttinni.
Walk carefully, the pavement is slippery.
"Go / work / function": það gengur
Beyond literal walking, ganga is the default verb for things working out or running: plans, machines, life in general. Þetta gengur ekki "this isn't working / this won't do" is heard a hundred times a day.
Hvernig gengur með ritgerðina?
How's it going with the essay?
Tölvan gengur hægt í dag, hún þarf endurræsingu.
The computer is running slowly today, it needs a restart.
The quirky subject: mér gengur vel
Here is the construction competitors skip. To say "I'm doing well / things are going well for me," Icelandic puts the person in the dative as a quirky subject and leaves ganga in the third person: mér gengur vel, honum gengur illa. There is no nominative "I" — the experiencer is dative, and the verb stays gengur no matter who it is.
Mér gengur vel í náminu þessa önnina.
I'm doing well in my studies this semester.
Hvernig gengur þér í nýju vinnunni?
How are things going for you in the new job?
Idioms with ganga
ganga anchors a whole family of phrasal expressions. The most useful: ganga frá "to finalise / wrap up" (literally "walk away from" — i.e. leave it finished), ganga út "sell out / walk out," and ganga í "join" (an organisation).
Við þurfum bara að ganga frá samningnum á morgun.
We just need to finalise the contract tomorrow.
Common Mistakes
❌ Við gangum í vinnuna.
Incorrect — the 'we' present has u-umlaut: göngum, not gangum
✅ Við göngum í vinnuna.
We walk to work.
❌ Ég gekk vel í prófinu.
Incorrect — 'I did well' uses a dative subject and 3sg verb: mér gekk vel
✅ Mér gekk vel í prófinu.
I did well on the exam.
❌ Hann gangaði alla leiðina heim.
Incorrect — ganga is strong, not weak; the past is gekk, never gangaði
✅ Hann gekk alla leiðina heim.
He walked the whole way home.
❌ Þú gekkt of hratt.
Incorrect — the 2sg past adds -st to the strong stem: gekkst
✅ Þú gekkst of hratt.
You walked too fast.
Key Takeaways
- ganga / geng / gekk / gengið — strong class 7; the present fronts to geng, the past runs on geng- (gekk, gengum, gengu).
- U-umlaut in the "we" present: göngum (a → ö).
- Beyond "walk," ganga = "go / work / function": þetta gengur ekki, hvernig gengur?
- Quirky dative subject for "doing well": mér gengur vel, verb stays 3sg.
- Idioms: ganga frá (finalise), ganga út (sell out), ganga í (join).
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- fara (to go)A1 — Full conjugation of the strong verb fara (fer / fór / fóru / farið), with the vera-perfect (ég er farinn), the inceptive fara að + infinitive, and the middle voice farast.